Best Buy again slashes Apple's iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 prices by $50-$100 in second holiday sale

Best Buy on Sunday kicked off a second leg of extremely aggressive discounts on Apple's latest iPads, offering $50 instant discounts on all iPad Air 2 models and between $50 and $100 off all iPad mini 3 models.

The latest discounts, which follow on the heels of two similar Black Friday sales (1, 2), are not expected to last long, as Best Buy has quickly run out of stock of iPads in a matter of hours during earlier sales, especially the iPad Air 2s.

Alternatively, AppleInsider partner MacMall is also offering discounts on new iPad Air 2 purchases that may actually net customers a better deal, as the authorized reseller does not collect tax from orders in 41 U.S. states.

For example, MacMall is offering the entry-level 16GB Wi-Fi iPad Air 2 for $479.99. But at a sales tax rate of 7 percent, users would save $54 over the regular out-the-door cost, netting a slightly greater savings over Best Buy. MacMall only charges sales tax on orders sent to CA, CO, GA, IL, MN, NC, NY, TN, and WI.

The full list of iPad Air 2 prices available from both Best Buy and MacMall follows. Below are the current sale prices, all of which are the current lowest prices according to our iPad Price Guide:

Comments

Best Buy seems to be teetering ... My daughter took the ferry off Martha's Vineyard last week and drove to the nearest Best Buy to get an MBA last week only to find it closed and signs in the window saying 'Out of Business". I was surprised one store would say such a thing but it seems the 'Amazon' effect is kicking in with a vengeance.

Best Buy seems to be teetering ... My daughter took the ferry off Martha's Vineyard last week and drove to the nearest Best Buy to get an MBA last week only to find it closed and signs in the window saying 'Out of Business". I was surprised one store would say such a thing but it seems the 'Amazon' effect is kicking in with a vengeance.

Several years ago they were flying high as Circuit City was floundering across the street in our area.

Still a luxury item. $600 for an iPad Air 2 with Cellular for only 16 GB.

Apple is probably eating the cost of the sale.

It would not be surprising if they are forced to sell their base models in the future with 32 GB.

The upsell is too much to swallow.

Regardless of how good they are, based on those prices, a lot of people are not going to bite and settle for their iPhone 6/6+ and laptop. Unless they have the disposable income.

It should be interesting to see how Apple handles the iPads with phones crowding out tablets (for a lot of people, not everyone). Despite the fact that the iPad Air 2 is pretty freaking amazing, they can't sell them simply because they are amazing devices.

--

We were at the Apple Store last night to check out the iPhone 6/6+'s. For a third time. Wow, the iPhone 6 is pretty big and such a beautiful phone. With that or the 6+, they negate the need for an iPad for many. The 6 is pretty big in its own right.

For us, the litmus test of a big enough phone is: Is it big enough to be a decent eReader? The 6 is just fine as an eReader. Our family plans to transition to the iPhone 6 as soon as we can.

Best Buy seems to be teetering ... My daughter took the ferry off Martha's Vineyard last week and drove to the nearest Best Buy to get an MBA last week only to find it closed and signs in the window saying 'Out of Business". I was surprised one store would say such a thing but it seems the 'Amazon' effect is kicking in with a vengeance.

Yes, I agree that wording is 'odd'...

Also odd that they wouldn't refer customers to the nearest functioning location...

Also odd that they wouldn't try to survive Christmas, then shutter it, although

that might have to do with lease expiration or other contractual terms with the landlord...

Also odd that people still shop there, but that's just based on my own unpleasant experiences there.

Best Buy seems to be teetering ... My daughter took the ferry off Martha's Vineyard last week and drove to the nearest Best Buy to get an MBA last week only to find it closed and signs in the window saying 'Out of Business". I was surprised one store would say such a thing but it seems the 'Amazon' effect is kicking in with a vengeance.

It's not just Amazon, it's other online retailers like B&H, and Adorama, plus B&M retailers like Target that also sell electronics. I purchased a iPad Mini in Target, plus cereal, socks, jeans, and hummus. One stop retailers are trumping specialty stores.

It's not just Amazon, it's other online retailers like B&H, and Adorama, plus B&M retailers like Target that also sell electronics. I purchased a iPad Mini in Target, plus cereal, socks, jeans, and hummus. One stop retailers are trumping specialty stores.

And that's a pity, IMO. Specialty stores like BB offer not only the ability to touch and see a product, but also a wide selection of peripherals that might be of interest or use. The one-stop b&m stores like W*M and Tar. are never going to offer the range of products for immediate purchase.

Regarding Circuit City, mentioned by pfisher, the same thing happened in my community. However, every time I went into CC, they had a narrower and narrower selection of items that offered no variation from what was available at BB or RadioShack or W*M for less money. CC cut its own throat by trying to mimic BB, instead of offering a meaningful alternative. The group-think of American MBAs seems to be that every store should pursue having 5% market share of the most popular items, instead of having 50% market share of the less popular items. This hurts both consumers and retailers, by giving us boulevards of look-alike stores with identical products and many fewer choices. Even our local W*M has seen this problem somewhat and significantly boosted up it's diversity of items (sewing supplies, memory cards, ethnic foods, etc.). Too bad electronics stores don't see the bigger picture.

Still a luxury item. $600 for an iPad Air 2 with Cellular for only 16 GB.

Apple is probably eating the cost of the sale.

Unlikely, based on Apple's historical gross margins compared to Best Buy.

It is far more likely that Best Buy is eating the cost of the discount. After all, they are the ones who shuttered a bunch of stores and are struggling to generate a profit.

That is not a problem with Apple. They don't need to offer big discounts to move inventory. That's why their Black Friday discounts are very modest, typically 5-10%. That's *ONE* day of discounting, the other 364 days of the year (at least in North America) they are selling at full retail.

Looks like I picked a good time to get one for the Ms. Just put order in less than half an hour before reading this article. (Sure wish they were even cheaper though.) Don't need/want a cell phone. iPod I recently got (after Ms got hers wet and ruined it) too small, mini hopefully is just right for the other things I'd like to do on iPod but can't because it's too dinky; oh and she'll be the one mostly using it.

Problem is at least for me that a 64GB Wifi-Cellular Grey model is only available for in-store pickup which is great, but it also says no stores in my area (Austin, Texas!) have the item, so I guess they are just blowing out stock and if they don't have it, they don't have it.

Best Buy seems to be teetering ... My daughter took the ferry off Martha's Vineyard last week and drove to the nearest Best Buy to get an MBA last week only to find it closed and signs in the window saying 'Out of Business". I was surprised one store would say such a thing but it seems the 'Amazon' effect is kicking in with a vengeance.

Actually, I just saw a preview for a news story about how they were doing well. Profits and stock were up. I could google it but I'm being lazy

Unlikely, based on Apple's historical gross margins compared to Best Buy.

It is far more likely that Best Buy is eating the cost of the discount. After all, they are the ones who shuttered a bunch of stores and are struggling to generate a profit.

That is not a problem with Apple. They don't need to offer big discounts to move inventory. That's why their Black Friday discounts are very modest, typically 5-10%. That's *ONE* day of discounting, the other 364 days of the year (at least in North America) they are selling at full retail.

Could be this time around, but last summer it was Apple that "partnered" with Best Buy, Target and Staples to sell iPad minis at $199.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple was behind subsidizing some of the discounts.

Update: I knew that they would start cutting prices on these devices and ipad cases. Anyone ever heard of DON DEAL WIZARD (just google search it)? They have a yellow widget on the homepage that will show you the top discounts for any product that can be bought on Amazon. Most of these items are on there. We never shop Amazon without going through them first. Saved us a ton of money.